Equipment element maintenance management system and equipment element maintenance management method

ABSTRACT

An equipment element maintenance management method for managing a maintenance operation for an equipment element that is attached to manufacturing equipment for manufacturing a product includes: acquiring operation history information of the manufacturing equipment at a predetermined timing; analyzing a tendency of a state of the equipment element based on the acquired operation history information; performing the maintenance operation for the equipment element of which the state is worse than a predetermined state; creating maintenance result information which is a result of the maintenance operation; and creating a repair operation instruction for performing an instruction of a repair operation for the equipment element of which the state after the maintenance operation is not more improved than the predetermined state based on the maintenance result information.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an equipment element maintenancemanagement system and an equipment element maintenance management methodfor managing maintenance operations for an equipment element that isattached to manufacturing equipment for manufacturing a product.

2. Description of the Related Art

A manufacturing equipment, such as a component mounter for manufacturinga product, is used in a state where replaceable equipment elements areselected and attached to according to the product. A component mounterfor manufacturing a mounting board for installing an electronic circuitcomponent on a circuit board as a product is used with a componentsupplier attached thereto for supplying electronic circuit components asan equipment element. In the equipment element, the wear or thedistortion of the built-in configuration components increase withincreasing time of use, and problems such as an operation error mayoccur. Therefore, service operations including a maintenance operationsuch as cleaning and reference position adjustment for the equipmentelement, and a repair operation such as replacement of components arecarried out at a predetermined service timing (for example, JapanesePatent Unexamined Publication No. 2004-140162).

In the service method described in Japanese Patent UnexaminedPublication No. 2004-140162, the operation state of each componentmounter is monitored in real time at a service center located away froma factory where the component mounter is installed. When the number oftimes of component supply or the number of times of a supply erroroccurrence of the component supplier attached to the component mounteris equal to or greater than the set number of times, the componentsupplier is inhibited from using and transported to the service centerto be repaired and inspected. As a result, centralized management of themonitoring information and the service in the service center isrealized.

SUMMARY

According to the present disclosure, there is provided an equipmentelement maintenance management system including: a history informationacquirer that acquires operation history information of manufacturingequipment for manufacturing a product at a predetermined timing, themanufacturing equipment being attached with an equipment element; ananalyzer that analyzes a tendency of a state of the equipment elementbased on the acquired operation history information; a maintenanceresult creator that creates maintenance result information which is aresult of a maintenance operation for the equipment element of which thestate is analyzed to be worse than a predetermined state; and a repairinstruction creator that creates a repair operation instruction forperforming an instruction of a repair operation for the equipmentelement of which the state after the maintenance operation is not moreimproved than the predetermined state, based on the maintenance resultinformation.

According to the present disclosure, there is provided an equipmentelement maintenance management method for managing a maintenanceoperation for an equipment element that is attached to manufacturingequipment for manufacturing a product, the method including: acquiringoperation history information of the manufacturing equipment at apredetermined timing; analyzing a tendency of a state of the equipmentelement based on the acquired operation history information; performingthe maintenance operation for the equipment element of which the stateis worse than a predetermined state; creating maintenance resultinformation which is a result of the maintenance operation; and creatinga repair operation instruction for performing an instruction of a repairoperation for the equipment element of which the state after themaintenance operation is not more improved than the predetermined statebased on the maintenance result information.

According to the present disclosure, the maintenance operation for theequipment element can be managed efficiently.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of anequipment element management system according to an exemplary embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of acomponent mounter according to the exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controlsystem of the equipment element management system according to theexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controlsystem of a tape feeder attached to the component mounter according tothe exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of maintenanceresult information used in the equipment element management system ofthe exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a repairoperation instruction used in an equipment element management systemaccording to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5C is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of repairresult information used in the equipment element management systemaccording to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an equipment element maintenancemanagement method by the equipment element management system accordingto the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controlsystem of another equipment element management system according to theexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an equipment element repairmanagement method by the equipment element management system accordingto the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Prior to the description of the exemplary embodiment, problems in therelated art will be briefly described.

In the Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2004-140162, there wasno description on how the repair and inspection of the componentsupplier inhibited from using was systematically controlled, and therewas room for further improvement.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an equipment elementmaintenance management system and an equipment element maintenancemanagement method that can manage maintenance operation for an equipmentelement efficiently.

The present disclosure will be described below in detail with referenceto the drawings. The configurations and the like described below areillustrative examples, and can be appropriately changed according tospecifications such as an equipment element management system, acomponent mounting line, a component mounter, a component supplier, andthe like. In the following, the corresponding elements are denoted bythe same reference numerals in all the drawings, and redundantexplanations are omitted. In FIG. 2 and a part to be described later, astwo axial directions orthogonal to each other in a horizontal plane, Xdirection (the direction perpendicular to paper surface in FIG. 2) inthe board transport direction and Y direction (the horizontal directionin FIG. 2) orthogonal to the board transport direction are illustrated.Further, Z direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2) is illustrated as aheight direction orthogonal to the horizontal plane.

First, the configuration of equipment element management system 1 willbe described with reference to FIG. 1. Equipment element managementsystem 1 is configured with factory F, support center S established at alocation away from factory F, and truck T which is transport means fortransporting (arrow a) an equipment element such as a tape feederbetween factory F and support center S. In factory F, component mountingline L1, which is configured with a plurality of component mounters M1to M3 connected to each other, is installed. Component mounting line L1has a function of manufacturing a mounting board while sequentiallyinstalling electronic circuit components (hereinafter referred to as“component D”, see FIG. 2) on circuit board B (see FIG. 2) by componentmounters M to M3.

Each of component mounters M1 to M3 is connected to line management PC 3via local communication network 2 such as a local area network (LAN). Infactory F, maintenance unit 4 for performing a maintenance operation forthe equipment element is installed. Maintenance unit 4 is provided withmail receiver 5, maintenance operator 6 for performing the maintenanceoperation, and maintenance management PC 7 for managing the maintenanceoperation. Maintenance unit 4 may be installed on the same floor ascomponent mounting line L1, and may be installed in the differentbuilding. Also, a plurality of component mounting lines may be installedin factory F. The number of component mounters M1 to M3 constitutingcomponent mounting line L1 is not limited to 3, and may be 1 or 2, and 4or more.

In FIG. 1, support center S is provided with support management PC 8,repairer 9 for performing a repair operation for the equipment element,and mail server 10. Repairer 9 and mail server 10 are connected tosupport management PC 8 via local communication network 11. Linemanagement PC 3 and support management PC 8 exchange information viaexternal communication network 12 such as the Internet or a mobilecommunication line. Mail receiver 5 and mail server 10 exchangeinformation via external communication network 13.

Support center S is opened at a position where the repair operations forthe equipment elements of a plurality of factories F (customers) can beefficiently performed. In support center S, in addition to the repairoperation of a carried-in equipment element, various kinds of supportsuch as analyzing state tendency of the equipment elements in factory F(customer) which will be described later and extracting the equipmentelements requiring maintenance operation to report the results to theperson in charge of each factory F are performed.

Next, the configuration of component mounters M1 to M3 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 2. Component mounters M1 to M3 have a similarconfiguration, and component mounter M1 will be described below.Component mounter M1 has a function of installing component D on circuitboard B. Board transport mechanism 22 provided on the upper surface ofbase 21 transports circuit board B in the X direction to position andhold circuit board B. Head moving mechanism 23 moves mounting head 24installed via plate 23 a in the X direction and the Y direction. Suctionnozzle 25 is installed to a lower end of mounting head 24.

A plurality of tape feeders 26 are mounted side by side in the Xdirection on feeder base 27 a provided on an upper portion of carriage27 connected to base 21 on the side of board transport mechanism 22. Incarriage 27, carrier tape 28 for storing component D to be supplied tocomponent mounter M1 is wound around and held by reel 29. Carrier tape28 inserted into tape feeder 26 is pitch fed at a regular interval bytape feed mechanism 26 a incorporated in tape feeder 26. As a result,component D stored in carrier tape 28 is sequentially supplied tocomponent supply port 26 b provided on an upper portion of tape feeder26.

In a component mounting action, mounting head 24 moves above tape feeder26 by head moving mechanism 23, and picks up component D supplied tocomponent supply port 26 b of tape feeder 26 by vacuum suction withsuction nozzle 25 (arrow b). Mounting head 24 holding component D movesabove circuit board B held with board transport mechanism 22 by headmoving mechanism 23, and mounts component D at predetermined componentinstall position Ba on circuit board B (arrow c).

In FIG. 2, board recognition camera 30 with an optical axis directionfacing downward is attached to plate 23 a. Board recognition camera 30is moved in the X direction and Y direction integrally with mountinghead 24 by head moving mechanism 23. Board recognition camera 30 ismoved above tape feeder 26 to image component D supplied to componentsupply port 26 b. The imaging result is subjected to image recognition,and a supply position deviation amount of supplied component D shiftedfrom the expected normal supply position is calculated. In addition, asupply component recognition error in which component D cannot berecognized because component D is not supplied to component supply port26 b is also detected.

In a case where the supply position deviation amount of component D islarge, there is a possibility that a suction mistake in which suctionnozzle 25 cannot suck component D occurs. Then, tape feeder 26 adjusts areference position when tape feed mechanism 26 a pitch feeds carriertape 28 based on the calculated supply position deviation amount.Alternatively, based on the calculated supply position deviation amount,a suction position (the stop position of mounting head 24) when suctionnozzle 25 picks up component D is corrected.

In FIG. 2, mounting head 24 is provided with flow rate sensor 24 a formeasuring the flow rate of the air flowing from suction nozzle 25. Whensuction nozzle 25 sucks component D normally, the air flowing fromsuction nozzle 25 becomes smaller, and the vacuum pressure of suctionnozzle 25 becomes lower. On the other hand, in a case where the suctionmistake such as suction nozzle 25 being unable to hold component D, orcomponent D being sucked by an abnormal posture occurs, the air flowingfrom suction nozzle 25 increases and the vacuum pressure of suctionnozzle 25 increases (vacuum error). Therefore, the presence or absenceof the occurrence of the suction mistake (vacuum error) can be detectedfrom the measurement result of the flow rate of the air by flow ratesensor 24 a. Instead of flow rate sensor 24 a, a vacuum gauge may beprovided to determine whether the suction mistake (vacuum error) occursfrom the measurement result of the vacuum pressure by the vacuum gauge.

On an upper surface of base 21 between board transport mechanism 22 andtape feeder 26, component recognition camera 31 with the optical axisdirection facing upward is attached. Component recognition camera 31images component D (or suction nozzle 25 which could not hold componentD) held by suction nozzle 25 when suction nozzle 25 which picks upcomponent D passes through upward. The imaging result is subjected toimage recognition, and it is determined whether the posture of componentD held by suction nozzle 25 is normal or abnormal, or whether a suctioncomponent recognition error (suction mistake) in which component D isnot held occurs.

Also, the imaging result is subjected to image recognition, and thesuction position deviation amount of component D sucked to suctionnozzle 25 shifted from the expected normal suction position iscalculated. When component D is mounted at component install position Baon circuit board B, install position correction and install posturecorrection are performed based on the suction position deviation amount.

Mounting head 24, suction nozzle 25, and tape feeder 26 areappropriately selected according to the types of components D mounted oncircuit board B, and are attached to component mounter M1. In this way,mounting head 24 for mounting component D on circuit board B, suctionnozzle 25 which is installed on mounting head 24 to suck component D, ortape feeder 26 (the component supplier) for supplying component D tomounting head 24 becomes the equipment element attached to componentmounter M1. Component mounter M1 for mounting component D on circuitboard B is provided with at least one equipment element and becomesmanufacturing equipment for manufacturing the product (mounting board).

A configuration of a control system of equipment element managementsystem 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Componentmounters M1 to M3 have a similar configuration, and component mounter M1will be described below.

In FIG. 3, component mounter M1 is provided with mounting controller 41.Mounting controller 41 is provided with mounting storage 42, recognitionprocessor 45, mounting action processor 46, and local communicator 47.Local communicator 47 exchanges data with other component mounters M2and M3, and line management PC 3 via local communication network 2.Mounting storage 42 is a storage device and is provided with mountingdata storage 43 and parameter storage 44. Mounting data storage 43 isstored for each type of mounting board manufactured by data such ascomponent type or size, and component install position Ba (XYcoordinates) of component D mounted on circuit board B.

Recognition processor 45 performs image recognition on the imagingresult of component supply port 26 b of tape feeder 26 imaged by boardrecognition camera 30, calculates a correction value of the referenceposition when carrier tape 28 is pitch fed by tape feeder 26 and acorrection value of the suction position of suction nozzle 25, andstores the result in parameter storage 44. Recognition processor 45performs image recognition on the imaging result of suction nozzle 25which picked up component D imaged by component recognition camera 31,calculates correction values of an install position and a mountingposture when component D is mounted on circuit board B, and stores theresult in parameter storage 44. Recognition processor 45 performs imagerecognition on the imaging result and detects the supply componentrecognition error and the suction component recognition error.

In FIG. 3, mounting action processor 46 controls board transportmechanism 22, head moving mechanism 23, mounting head 24, and tapefeeder 26 based on various types of data stored in mounting data storage43 and various correction values (operation parameters) stored inparameter storage 44 to perform the component mounting action. When anoperation error during the component mounting action is detected,mounting action processor 46 transmits the occurrence time of theoperation error, the operation parameters when the operation erroroccurs, and the like to line management PC 3.

As the operation error, a suction error in which suction nozzle 25cannot suck component D, the suction component recognition error inwhich component D which is sucked and held by suction nozzle 25 cannotbe recognized by component recognition camera 31, a vacuum error inwhich the vacuum pressure of suction nozzle 25 detected by flow ratesensor 24 a is higher than a predetermined value, and the supplycomponent recognition error in which component D which is supplied bytape feeder 26 (component supplier) cannot be recognized by boardrecognition camera 30. In addition, in a case where component mountingline L1 is provided with a mounting inspection apparatus for inspectingcomponent D mounted on the mounting board in addition to componentmounters M1 to M3, a mounting error based on the presence or absence ofcomponent D inspected by the mounting inspection apparatus or thepositional deviation amount of component D may be included as theoperation error.

The configuration of the control system of tape feeder 26 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 4. Tape feeder 26 is provided withfeeder controller 91. Feeder controller 91 is provided with feederstorage 92, tape feed processor 96, and communicator 97. When tapefeeder 26 is attached to component mounters M1 to M3, data is exchangedwith mounting controller 41 via communicator 97. As shown in FIG. 3,when tape feeder 26 is attached to maintenance operator 6, data isexchanged with maintenance controller 61 via communicator 97. When tapefeeder 26 is attached to repair operator 87, data is exchanged withrepair controller 81 via communicator 97.

In FIG. 4, feeder storage 92 is a storage device, and is provided withcorrection data storage 93, operation history storage 94, and inhibitioninformation storage 95. In correction data storage 93, among theoperation parameters stored in parameter storage 44, the correctionvalue of the reference position when carrier tape 28 is pitch fed bytape feeder 26 is transmitted and stored. Tape feed processor 96controls tape feed mechanism 26 a based on the correction value of thereference position stored in correction data storage 93 to perform thecomponent supply action for sequentially supplying component D tocomponent supply port 26 b.

Operation history storage 94 stores operation history information suchas the number of supply components supplied by tape feeder 26 (thecomponent supplier) and a component supplier operation time that tapefeeder 26 operated. Inhibition information storage 95 stores information(use inhibition information) on whether use of tape feeder 26 isinhibited. When tape feeder 26 that is stored in inhibition informationstorage 95 as inhibited from use is attached to component mounter M1,mounting controller 41 performs a use inhibition process such asinforming the inhibition of use. In this way, tape feeder 26 (equipmentelement) is provided with inhibition information storage 95 for storinguse inhibition information inhibiting the use of the equipment element.The use inhibition information may be a flag indicating whether or notthe element is inhibited from using or history information including thedate when the use inhibition information is updated.

In FIG. 3, line management PC 3 is provided with line processor 51. Lineprocessor 51 is provided with line storage 52, operation informationcollector 54, local communicator 55, and external communicator 56. Localcommunicator 55 exchanges data with component mounters M1 to M3 vialocal communication network 2. External communicator 56 exchanges datawith support management PC 8 installed in support center S via externalcommunication network 12. Line storage 52 is a storage device and isprovided with operation history storage 53.

Operation information collector 54 stores the occurrence time of theoperation error transmitted from component mounters M1 to M3 and theoperation parameters when the operation error occurs in operationhistory storage 53 in association with the information specifying theequipment element related to the operation error as an operation historyinformation. In addition, operation information collector 54 collectsthe operation parameters, the mounting head operating time that mountinghead 24 operated, the number of times of mounting components D for eachsuction nozzle 25, the number of supply components supplied by tapefeeder 26 (the component supplier), and the component supplier operationtime that tape feeder 26 operated at a predetermined timing such asevery 1 hours in addition to the occurrence time of the operation error,and stores the collected information in operation history storage 53 asoperation history information in association with the informationspecifying the equipment element.

In FIG. 3, support management PC 8 is provided with support processor71. Support processor 71 is provided with support storage 72,information acquirer 75, analyzer 76, information transmitter 77,external communicator 78, and local communicator 79. Support storage 72is a storage device, and is provided with equipment information storage73 and analysis result storage 74. External communicator 78 exchangesdata with line management PC 3 installed at factory F via externalcommunication network 12. Local communicator 79 exchanges data with therepairer 9 and mail server 10 via local communication network 11.

Information acquirer 75 acquires operation history information from linemanagement PC 3 at the predetermined timing such as every 1 hours, andstores the information as equipment information in equipment informationstorage 73 for each equipment element. Information acquirer 75 mayacquire the updated difference on operation history information from thelast acquisition or operation history information for a predeterminedperiod of time, such as 1 day. In other words, in equipment informationstorage 73, information for a period of time that is long enough toanalyze the tendency of the state of each equipment element needs to bestored. In this way, information acquirer 75 is a history informationacquirer for acquiring the operation history information of themanufacturing equipment at the predetermined timing.

In FIG. 3, analyzer 76 analyzes the tendency of the state of theequipment elements based on the operation history information stored inequipment information storage 73. More specifically, analyzer 76analyzes the contents of the operation error (such as a suctioncomponent recognition error, a vacuum error, and a supply componentrecognition error) to identify the equipment element that caused theoperation error. Next, analyzer 76 calculates an error rate that is thenumber of operation errors per unit time (the number of times of unitoperation) for each equipment element based on the information (such asthe mounting head operation time, the number of times of mounting, thenumber of supply components, the component supplier operation time)relating to the operation time (the number of times of operation) of theequipment element.

Analyzer 76 determines an equipment element having a rate at which theerror rate increases (increase rate) greater than a predetermined value,or an equipment element having a rate at which the correction valueincreases (increase rate) greater than a predetermined value as theequipment element with a state in a deterioration tendency and requiringthe maintenance operation. The analysis result is stored in analysisresult storage 74. The analysis results include contents of requiredmaintenance operation, information that is used for the maintenanceoperation, and the like in addition to information that identifies theequipment element that requires the maintenance operation.

The necessity of the maintenance operation may be determined based onthe error rate, the operation time, the number of times of operation,and the like of each equipment element in addition to the deteriorationtendency of the state of the equipment element. In the case where themaintenance operation is determined to be necessary, in a case where thenumber of times of the maintenance operation (maintenance frequency)within a predetermined period is higher than the predetermined value,the equipment element may be determined to be transported to supportcenter S to be subjected to the repair operation without being subjectedto the maintenance operation.

Information transmitter 77 transmits the analysis result to maintenanceunit 4. More specifically, the analysis result is transmitted to mailserver 10 via local communication network 11, and is transmitted frommail server 10 to mail receiver 5 of maintenance unit 4 installed infactory F via external communication network 13. Thus, the risk ofunauthorized access to maintenance management PC 7 in factory F can bereduced by passing the result through mail server 10 and mail receiver5.

In FIG. 3, maintenance unit 4 is provided with mail receiver 5,maintenance operator 6, and maintenance management PC 7. Maintenancemanagement PC 7 is provided with maintenance controller 61. Maintenancecontroller 61 is provided with maintenance storage 62, maintenanceoperation processor 65, maintenance result creator 66, and repairinstruction creator 67. Maintenance storage 62 is a storage device andis provided with analysis result storage 63 and maintenance resultstorage 64. Analysis result storage 63 stores the analysis resultreceived by mail receiver 5. Maintenance operation processor 65 controlsmaintenance operator 6 based on the analysis result stored in analysisresult storage 63 to perform the maintenance operation for the equipmentelement.

Here, the maintenance operation by maintenance operator 6 will bedescribed by taking tape feeder 26 (component supplier) as an example ofthe equipment element. Tape feeder 26 which is a subject of themaintenance operation is attached to maintenance operator 6. Maintenanceoperator 6 is provided with a camera (not shown) for imaging componentsupply port 26 b, torque measuring means (not shown) for measuringtorque of a motor provided in tape feeding mechanism 26 a, cleaningmeans (not shown) for cleaning by injecting air, and the like. In otherwords, maintenance operator 6 has a function of measuring the state oftape feeder 26.

As the maintenance operation, operations that are not accompanied byreplacement of the configuration component of the equipment element andrepair of the equipment element of tape feeder 26 (configurationelements), such as cleaning of a mover, the distortion repair oradjustment of the sprockets or gears provided in tape feeding mechanism26 a, and the torque measurement of the motors provided in tape feedmechanism 26 a, are performed. In this way, maintenance unit 4 receivesthe analysis result and performs the maintenance operation for theequipment element in which the state of the equipment element (tapefeeder 6) is analyzed to be worse than the predetermined state. Afterthe maintenance operation, the state (tape feed accuracy and the like)of tape feeder 26 is measured by maintenance operator 6.

In FIG. 3, in a case where it is determined that the state of tapefeeder 26 after the maintenance operation is not improved enough to thepredetermined state to be used in the component mounting operation,maintenance operation processor 65 stores the use inhibition informationin inhibition information storage 95 of tape feeder 26. In other words,inhibition information storage 95 stores the use inhibition informationin the case where the state of the equipment element (tape feeder 26)after the maintenance operation is not more improved than thepredetermined state. Maintenance result creator 66 creates maintenanceresult information which is the result of the maintenance operation forthe equipment element including a maintenance operation day, the good orfail result of content and improvement of the maintenance operation, themeasurement result of the state after the maintenance operation, and thelike, and stores the information in maintenance result storage 64 inassociation with the information specifying tape feeder 26 (equipmentelement).

An example of the maintenance result information will be described withreference to FIG. 5A. In this example, the maintenance resultinformation of four tape feeders 26 with feeder numbers FA01, FA02,FB01, and FC01 is included. The maintenance result information includesthe maintenance operation day, the operation content and the result, andthe measurement result of the state after the maintenance operationincluding the torque rating ratio of the motor and the feed accuracy oftape feed mechanism 26 a. In this example, it is determined that thestate of tape feeder 26 is not improved in the case where the torquerating ratio is 0.9 or less or the feed accuracy is ±30 m or more. Inother words, since FA02 has the torque rating ratio of 0.78 and 0.9 orless, and FB01 has a feed accuracy of ±55 m and ±30 m or more in the Xdirection, the result of the gear adjustment is determined to be “fail”.

In this manner, repair instruction creator 67 creates a repair operationinstruction for performing an instruction of the repair operation forthe equipment element of which the state after the maintenance operationis not more improved than the predetermined state, even though themaintenance operation is performed based on the maintenance resultinformation stored in maintenance result storage 64. The repairoperation instruction is displayed on the display (not shown) providedin maintenance unit 4, and is printed from a print device (not shown) ofmaintenance unit 4 as a repair slip containing information of thetransport destination such as support center S.

An example of the repair operation instruction will be described withreference to FIG. 5B. This example is repair operation informationcreated from the maintenance result information shown in FIG. 5A. Inother words, the repair operation information of two tape feeders 26with feeder numbers FA02 and FB01 of which the state were determined tobe not improved is included. Moreover, in addition to a repair operationitem (gear adjustment), information used for the repair operation ofoperation such as the torque rating ratio of the motor and the feedaccuracy of tape feed mechanism 26 a after the maintenance operation isincluded as the instruction of the repair operation.

In FIG. 3, repairer 9 is provided with repair controller 81 and repairoperator 87. Repair controller 81 is provided with repair storage 82,repair operation processor 84, repair result creator 85, and localcommunicator 86. Repair storage 82 is a storage device and is providedwith repair result storage 83. Local communicator 86 exchanges data withsupport management PC 8 via local communication network 11. Repairoperation processor 84 controls repair operator 87 to perform the repairoperation for the equipment element. Alternatively, repair operator 87performs auxiliary operation assisting the repair operation by a repairworker.

Here, the repair operation by repair operator 87 will be described bytaking tape feeder 26 (component supplier) as an example of theequipment element. Repair operator 87 is attached with tape feeder 26which is a subject of the repair operation transported by truck T fromfactory F. Repair operator 87 is provided with a camera (not shown) forimaging component supply port 26 b, and a torque measuring means (notshown) for measuring the torque of the motor provided in tape feedmechanism 26 a. In other words, repair operator 87 has a function ofmeasuring the state of tape feeder 26.

As the repair operation, the operation that is accompanied byreplacement of the configuration component of the equipment element andrepair of the equipment element of tape feeder 26 (equipment elements),such as the motors, the sprockets, the gears, and the like provided intape feed mechanism 26 a are performed.

After the repair operation, the state of tape feeder 26 is measured byrepair operator 87. When the state of tape feeder 26 is improved to thepredetermined state after the repair operation, repair operationprocessor 84 deletes the use inhibition information from inhibitioninformation storage 95 of tape feeder 26. As described above, inhibitioninformation storage 95 deletes the use inhibition information when therepair operation is executed.

In FIG. 3, repair result creator 85 creates repair result informationwhich is the result of the repair operation for the equipment elementincluding the maintenance operation day, the content of the repairoperation, the measurement result of the state after the repairoperation, and the like, and stores the information in repair resultstorage 83 in association with the information specifying tape feeder 26(equipment element).

An example of repair result information will be described with referenceto FIG. 5C. This example is the repair result information that therepair operation is performed based on the repair operation instructionshown in FIG. 5B. In other words, replacement of the motor of tape feedmechanism 26 a is performed as the repair operation of tape feeder 26with feeder number FA02. Replacement of the gear of tape feed mechanism26 a is performed as the repair operation of tape feeder 26 with feedernumber FB01. As a result of the repair operation, in addition to tapefeeders 26 with feeder number FA02 and FB01, torque rating ratio of themotor and the feed accuracy of tape feed mechanism 26 a are improved tothe predetermined state.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6, an equipment element maintenancemanagement method for managing the maintenance operation for theequipment element by equipment element management system 1 will bedescribed. First, information acquirer 75 of support management PC 8installed in support center S acquires the operation history informationof component mounters M1 to M3 (manufacturing equipment) constitutingcomponent mounting line L1 installed at factory F from line managementPC 3 installed at factory F at the predetermined timing (ST1: operationhistory information acquisition step). The acquired operation historyinformation is stored in equipment information storage 73. Analyzer 76of support management PC 8 analyzes the tendency of the state of theequipment element based on the acquired operation history information(ST2: analysis step).

Analyzer 76 determines whether the state of the equipment element isworse than the predetermined state (ST3: tendency determination step).In a case where the state of the equipment element is determined not tobe worse than the predetermined state (No in ST3), the equipment elementis continuously used for manufacturing. When the state of the equipmentelement is determined to be worse than the predetermined state (Yes inST3), information transmitter 77 transmits the analysis result tomaintenance unit 4 installed in factory F. In factory F, the equipmentelement determined to be deteriorating is transferred to maintenanceunit 4 installed in factory F. It is also possible to perform thedetermination on when to perform the maintenance operation for theequipment element determined to be deteriorating in maintenance unit 4and remove the mounting board to be manufactured from component mountersM1 to M3 at the timing of changing to be transferred to maintenance unit4.

In FIG. 6, in maintenance unit 4, the maintenance operation for theequipment element of which the state is worse than the predeterminedstate is performed based on the received analysis result (ST4:maintenance operation step). Next, maintenance unit 4 measures the stateof the equipment element after the maintenance operation (ST5: statemeasurement step). Then, maintenance result creator 66 creates themaintenance result information (see FIG. 5A), which is a result of themaintenance operation including a determination result whether the stateof the equipment element after the maintenance operation is improvedfrom the predetermined state based on the records of the maintenanceoperation and the measurement result of the state of the equipmentelement after the maintenance operation (ST6: maintenance resultinformation creating step).

Next, repair instruction creator 67 creates a repair operationinstruction (see FIG. 5B) for performing the instruction of the repairoperation for the equipment element of which the state after themaintenance operation is not more improved than the predetermined state,based on the maintenance result information (ST7: repair instructioncreating step). The equipment element of which the state is improved tothe predetermined state by the maintenance operation is sent back tocomponent mounting line L1 from maintenance unit 4 to be used in themanufacturing. In this way, in the equipment element management methodby equipment element management system 1, the analysis of the state ofthe equipment elements is performed collectively by analyzer 76 ofsupport center S (ST2), and the maintenance operation is performed onlyfor the equipment elements requiring the maintenance operation (Yes inST3) by maintenance unit 4 in factory F which is closer to componentmounters M1 to M3 (manufacturing equipment) than the analyzer 76 (ST4).

As described above, equipment element maintenance management system 1 ofthe present exemplary embodiment for managing maintenance operation forthe equipment element includes information acquirer 75 for acquiring theoperation history information of the manufacturing equipment at apredetermined timing, analyzer 76 for analyzing the tendency of thestate of the equipment element based on the acquired operation historyinformation, maintenance result creator 66 for creating the maintenanceresult information of the equipment element that the state there of isanalyzed to be worse than the predetermined state, and repairinstruction creator 67 for creating the repair operation instruction toperform the instruction of the repair operation for the equipmentelement of which the state after the maintenance operation is not moreimproved than the predetermined state based on the maintenance resultinformation. Thus, the maintenance operation for the equipment elementcan be managed efficiently.

Next, with reference to FIG. 7, another example (hereinafter, referredto as “second equipment element management system 101”) of the equipmentelement management system will be described.

Second equipment element management system 101 has the sameconfiguration with above-described equipment element management system 1(hereinafter, referred to as “first equipment element management system1” as necessary), component mounters M1 to M3, and line management PC 3,and partially different configurations with maintenance unit 104,support management PC 108, and repairer 109.The same reference numerals are added to the same parts as firstequipment element management system 1, and the description thereof isomitted.

Support processor 171 of support management PC 108 is provided withrepair instruction creator 110 in addition to support storage 172,information acquirer 175, analyzer 176, information transmitter 177,external communicator 178, and local communicator 79. Support storage172 is provided with equipment information storage 173 and analysisresult storage 74. External communicator 178 exchanges data withmaintenance unit 104 via external communication network 12 in additionto exchanging data with line management PC 3 via external communicationnetwork 12.

In FIG. 7, in addition to acquiring operation history information fromline management PC 3 at the predetermined timing, information acquirer175 acquires maintenance result information from maintenance unit 104and the repair result information from repairer 109, and stores theacquired information in equipment information storage 173. Analyzer 176analyzes the tendency of the state of the equipment element based on themaintenance result information and the repair result information inaddition to the operation history information. As a result, the tendencyof the state of the equipment element can be predicted more accurately;for example, the state of the equipment elements having shortermaintenance operation intervals than average equipment elementsdeteriorates more quickly, and the state of the equipment elementshaving shorter operation time from the replacement of the configurationcomponents than the average equipment elements deteriorates more slowly.The analysis result is stored in analysis result storage 74 and istransmitted to maintenance unit 104 by information transmitter 177.

Repair instruction creator 110 creates the repair operation instructionfor performing the instruction of the repair operation for the equipmentelement of which the state after the maintenance operation is not moreimproved than the predetermined state even though the maintenanceoperation is performed, based on the maintenance result informationstored in equipment information storage 173. The repair operationinstruction is sent to repairer 109 and the person in charge of factoryF by information transmitter 177. In other words, informationtransmitter 177 becomes an information transmitter for transmitting therepair operation instruction for performing the instruction of therepair operation for the equipment element in a case where the state ofthe equipment element after the maintenance operation is not moreimproved than the predetermined state.

The person in charge of factory F who received the repair operationinstruction loads the equipment element that received the repairoperation instruction on truck T and transports the equipment element torepairer 109 of support center S. Since the person in charge of supportcenter S receives the repair operation instruction before the equipmentelement is transported, the repair operation for the equipment elementcan be performed efficiently by preparing and allocating theconfiguration component to be replaced beforehand.

In FIG. 7, maintenance unit 104 is provided with external communicator68 in maintenance controller 161 provided in maintenance management PC107 instead of mail receiver 5. External communicator 68 exchanges datawith support management PC 108 via external communication network 12. Inrepairer 109, repair controller 181 is provided with repair storage 182,repair operation processor 184, repair result creator 85, and localcommunicator 86.

Repair storage 182 is provided with repair instruction storage 88 inaddition to repair result storage 83. Repair instruction storage 88stores the repair operation instruction transmitted from supportmanagement PC 108. Maintenance unit 104 further includes a localcommunicator for exchanging data with line management PC 3 or componentmounters M1 to M3, and may transmit the use inhibition information forinhibiting the use of the equipment element to line management PC 3 viathe local communicator. In this way, in a case where the inhibitedequipment elements is attached to component mounters M1 to M3, linemanagement PC 3 can notify or warn that the use of line management PC 3is inhibited.

Repair operation processor 184 controls repair operator 87 based on therepair operation instruction stored in repair instruction storage 88 toperform the repair operation for the equipment element. Alternatively,repair operation processor 184 causes repair operator 87 to perform anauxiliary operation assisting the repair operation by the repair worker.Repair operation processor 184 displays the contents shown in the repairoperation instruction on the display (not shown). As a result, therepair worker can easily understand the repair operation and execute therepair operation efficiently. In this manner, repairer 109 receives therepair operation instruction and performs the repair operation, of whichthe instruction is performed, of the equipment element.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, an equipment element repair managementmethod for managing the repair operation for the equipment element bysecond equipment element management system 101 will be described. First,maintenance unit 104 performs the maintenance operation for theequipment element (ST11: maintenance operation step). This maintenanceoperation step (ST11) is the same as the maintenance operation step(ST4) of the equipment element maintenance management method. Theoperation history information acquisition step (ST1), the analysis step(ST2), and a maintenance determination step (ST3) of the equipmentelement maintenance management method may be executed before themaintenance operation step (ST11). Next, in maintenance unit 104, thestate of the equipment element after the maintenance operation ismeasured (ST12: state measurement step). Next, in maintenance unit 104,whether the state of the equipment element after the maintenanceoperation is more improved than the predetermined state is determined(ST13: state determination step).

If the state of the equipment element is determined to be improved tothe predetermined state by the maintenance operation (Yes in ST13), thecorresponding equipment element is returned to component mounting lineL1. When it is determined that the state of the equipment element afterthe maintenance operation is not improved from the predetermined state(No in ST13), the use inhibition information for inhibiting the use ofthe equipment element is stored in inhibition information storage 95 oftape feeder 6 (equipment element) to be subjected to the repairoperation (ST14: use inhibition information storage step). Then,maintenance result creator 66 creates the maintenance result informationand sends the result to support management PC 108. Next, the repairinstruction creator 110 creates the repair operation instruction (ST15:repair operation instruction creating step). The created repairoperation instruction is sent to the person in charge of factory F andrepairer 109.

In repairer 109 in which the repair operation for the equipment elementis performed, the equipment element of which the state is not moreimproved than the predetermined state is transported (ST16: carrying-instep). Next, the repair operation of the transported equipment elementwhich is a subject of the repair operation is executed in repairer 109(ST17: repair operation step). Then, the use inhibition information isdeleted from the storage of the equipment element for which the repairoperation is finished (ST18: use inhibition information deletion step).Next, the equipment element that the repair operation is finished istransported to factory F (ST19: carrying-out step).

In the method of repairing the equipment element by second equipmentelement management system 101, the maintenance operation is performed bymaintenance unit 4 in factory F closer to component mounters M1 to M3(manufacturing equipment) than repairer 109 (ST11), and transports onlythe equipment element which needs to be repaired (No in ST13) torepairer 109 to perform the repair operation (ST17). The use inhibitioninformation may be stored in association with the information specifyingthe equipment element in the storage of support management PC 108 orline management PC 3 instead of the storage of the respective equipmentelements, and usability thereof may be managed. In this case, when thereis a query made from component mounters M1 to M3 installed with theequipment elements, the presence or absence of the use inhibitioninformation is returned from support management PC 108 or linemanagement PC 3.

As described above, second equipment element management system 101 ofthe present exemplary embodiment for managing the repair operation ofthe equipment element includes maintenance unit 104 for performingmaintenance operation for the equipment element, an instructiontransmitter (information transmitter 177) for transmitting the repairoperation instruction for performing the repair operation, of which theinstruction is performed, of the equipment element in a case where thestate of the equipment element after the maintenance operation is notmore improved than the predetermined state, and repairer 109 forreceiving the repair operation instruction to perform the repairoperation, of which the instruction is performed of the equipmentelement. Thus, the repair operation for the equipment element can bemanaged efficiently.

In a case where the equipment element is mounting head 24, the cleaningof the mover, the adjustment and replacement of the cylinder (not shown)for raising and lowering suction nozzle 25 and the like are performed asthe maintenance operation and the repair operation. In a case where theequipment element is suction nozzle 25, cleaning of the nozzle, shaftadjustment, and the like are performed for the maintenance operation andthe repair operation.

The equipment element maintenance management system and the equipmentelement maintenance management method of the present disclosure have theeffect of managing the maintenance operation for the equipment elementefficiently, and is useful in the field where the components are mountedon the board.

What is claimed is:
 1. An equipment element maintenance managementmethod for managing a maintenance operation for an equipment elementthat is attached to a manufacturing equipment for manufacturing aproduct, the method comprising: acquiring operation history informationof the manufacturing equipment at a predetermined timing; analyzing of afirst performance state of the equipment element based on the acquiredoperation hi story information; transferring the equipment element to alocal maintenance unit for performing the maintenance operation for theequipment element of which the first performance state is worse than apredetermined state; creating maintenance result information which is aresult of the maintenance operation at the local maintenance unit byanalyzing a second performance state of the equipment element; anddetermining whether the second performance state of the equipmentelement is improved than the predetermined state; in response to thesecond performance state not being improved than the predeterminedthreshold state, creating a repair operation instruction fortransferring the equipment element to a distant repair center forperforming a repair operation for the equipment element.
 2. Theequipment element maintenance management method of claim 1, wherein theoperation history information includes at least one of an occurrencetime of an operation error at the manufacturing equipment and anoperation parameter of the manufacturing equipment when the operationerror occurs.
 3. The equipment element maintenance management method ofclaim 1, wherein the maintenance operation is an operation that is notaccompanied by replacement of a configuration component of the equipmentelement and repair of the equipment element.
 4. The equipment elementmaintenance management method of claim 1, wherein the first state of theequipment element is analyzed based on the operation history informationand the maintenance result information.
 5. The equipment elementmaintenance management method of claim 1, wherein the manufacturingequipment is a component mounter that mounts a component on a circuitboard, and wherein the equipment element is at least one of a mountinghead that mounts the component on the circuit board, a suction nozzlethat is installed on the mounting head to suck the component, and acomponent supplier that supplies the component to the mounting head. 6.The equipment element maintenance management method of claim 5, whereinthe operation history information includes at least one of a mountinghead operation time for which the mounting head is operated, the numberof times of mounting components for each of the suction nozzles, thenumber of supplied components supplied by the component supplier, and acomponent supplier operation time for which the component supplier isoperated.
 7. The equipment element maintenance management method ofclaim 5, wherein an operation error in the manufacturing equipmentincludes at least one of a suction error in which the suction nozzlecannot suck a component, a suction component recognition error in whichthe component sucked and held by the suction nozzle cannot berecognized, a vacuum error in which a vacuum pressure of the suctionnozzle is higher than a predetermined value, and a supply componentrecognition error in which the component to be supplied by the componentsupplier cannot be recognized.
 8. The equipment element maintenancemanagement method of claim 1, further comprising: storing information ofinhibiting use of the equipment element when the second state of theequipment element after the maintenance operation is not better than thepredetermined state based on the maintenance result information.
 9. Theequipment element maintenance management method of claim 8, wherein theequipment element is one of a plurality of tape feeders and theinformation of inhibiting use indicates which tape feeder to beinhibited.
 10. The equipment element maintenance management method ofclaim 8, further comprising deleting the information of inhibiting useof the equipment element when the repair operation is complete for theequipment element.